As people age, it is known that they become more susceptible to illness and disease, particularly cancer and heart disease. A prudent individual will recognize that fact and take the necessary steps to make certain that illnesses and diseases are avoided if possible by adopting a proper diet, by exercising, and by avoiding lifestyle habits that contribute to poor health. Inevitably, taking the proper steps does not always avoid illness and disease. Early detection can make treatment easier, more successful and less expensive if and when disease or illness occur. Furthermore, as the population ages and medical expenses continue to increase, early detection of illness becomes a primary means of controlling the costs of health care.
The usual way illness and disease is detected is with a physical examination by a doctor. The scope of the examination will vary depending on, for example, the patient's age, gender, family history and overall condition. Some examinations are specific to particular diseases, especially to cancer and heart disease.
A cancer-related checkup is recommended by the American Cancer Society every three years for people between the ages of twenty and forty, and every year for those over forty. This type of checkup can include health counseling and a physical examination of the thyroid, oral cavity, skin, lymph nodes, testes, prostate gland, and ovaries, as well as examining for other non-malignant diseases.
There are special tests that are recommended by the American Cancer Society and other health organizations for some types of cancers. Some recommendations cover a wide spectrum of the population. For example, an annual examination for oral cancer is recommended for everyone; and examinations for skin cancer should be done every three years for those ages twenty to forty and annually thereafter.
Certain types of cancer are gender specific. Clinical physical examinations are recommended every three years for women between the ages of twenty and forty; above forty years of age, clinical examinations are recommended every year. Also, for women over forty, annual mammograms are recommended. Annual Pap tests and pelvic exams are recommended for women who are sexually active or over the age of eighteen. After three or more consecutive, satisfactory examinations, less frequent examinations are appropriate at the discretion of the physician. Endometrial biopsies are recommended for women at menopause and for women at high risk, such as those with a history of infertility, obesity, failure to ovulate, or who have abnormal uterine bleeding or who have had unopposed estrogen or tamoxifen therapy.
For men, both prostate-specific antigen testing and a digital rectal examination should be offered annually, beginning at age fifty, to men who have at least a ten-year life expectancy, and to younger men who are at higher risk because of familial predisposition or who are African Americans.
Still other recommendations are directed to both men and women who are older, namely fifty years of age or older.
In particular, one avoidable type of cancer is colorectal cancer. Beginning at age fifty, average risk men and women should have a yearly digital rectal examination and fecal occult blood test. Every three to five years, a flexible sigmoidoscopy is warranted. Individuals at increased risk include those with (1) a personal history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps; (2) a family history in a first degree relative younger than sixty or in two first degree relatives of any age, or (3) a personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, or (4) a family history of colorectal cancer syndromes such as familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer. Those individuals should have more intensive screening and surveillance for colorectal cancer. The incidence of colorectal cancer can be greatly reduced if these guidelines are followed.
Birthday greetings are generally lighthearted. For the very young, they celebrate growing up; for older adults, they may carry messages that tease the recipient about growing old. Although most birthday greetings are simply cards carrying graphics and text, others have "pop up" designs or contain small electronic devices that produce sounds. Birthday greeting cards are used primarily for their entertainment value.
Cards can carry information, however, including health information, perhaps in an entertaining greeting card format. See, for example, the patent issued to Lieberman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,877, for greeting-card-style drug information cards.
Cards can also carry useful forms. Wolf, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,184, teaches a gift card that includes its own thank you note. Greeting cards that contain test kits are, however, not known.